Holder for Securing Toothbrush Heads

ABSTRACT

A holder ( 1 ) for securing detachable toothbrush heads for electric toothbrushes, said toothbrush head having a movable disc or disc part supported by a shaft, and which is provided with bristles protruding substantially parallel to a first axis, said first axis extending substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the disc or disc part. The holder ( 1 ) is provided with a plurality of recesses ( 7 ), each of said recesses being adapted to accommodate in use at least the end of the toothbrush head supporting the disc or the disc part with bristles. Each recess has first supporting surfaces ( 8 ) to support in use the rim of the disc or disc part in the radial direction perpendicularly to said first axis, and second supporting surfaces ( 9 ) for supporting in use the rear side of the disc or the disc part in the axial direction parallel to said first axis.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a holder for securing detachabletoothbrush heads for electric toothbrushes, said toothbrush head havinga movable disc or disc part supported by a shaft, and which is providedwith bristles protruding substantially parallel to a first axis, saidfirst axis extending substantially perpendicularly to the plane of thedisc.

BACKGROUND ART

U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,296 discloses a holder for toothbrushes, said holderhaving one or more cavities, each cavity being adapted to accommodateits toothbrush head with bristles. The cavities are lined with rubbermaterial intended to conform to the shape of the toothbrush.Furthermore, the holder has a rubber or steel grommet to keep thetoothbrush in its position inside the cavity. The patent states that thecavities partially enclose the toothbrushes, and that the toothbrush isentered into the cavity bristles first, and that the toothbrush can beoperated with one hand.

This holder is not fully satisfactorily as the rubber lining is worn outfrom being used when the toothbrush is pressed into the cavity. Thusafter some time the lining will not conform to the shape of thetoothbrush any more, and it will lose its ability to secure thetoothbrush inside the cavity.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a holder of the above kindwhich is easy to manufacture and particularly suited for securingdetachable toothbrush heads for electric toothbrushes in a safe andsimple way under hygienic conditions, and which can be operated easilywith one hand.

The holder according to the invention is accordingly characterised bybeing provided with a plurality of recesses, each of said recesses beingadapted to accommodate at least the end of the toothbrush headsupporting the disc or the disc part with bristles, each recess havingfirst supporting surfaces to support the rim of the disc or disc part inthe radial direction perpendicularly to said first axis, and secondsupporting surfaces for supporting the rear side of the disc or the discpart in the axial direction parallel to said first axis.

Thus, a plain and simple securing is obtained in a plain and simplestructure with a surface, which does not alter, and which is wornrelatively slowly from usage. It is very hygienic and needs very littlecleaning as the bristles do not have any immediate contact to theholder. The holder can be made very thin, so that it does not jut out ofthe wall without reducing the access of light and air to the bristles asthey protrude freely out of the holder.

The holder can be operated easily with one hand although detachabletoothbrush heads for electric toothbrushes have a short shaft comparedto traditional toothbrushes. As the toothbrush head and the shaftexactly fit into the recess, when the bristles turn outwards, all ittakes for securing the toothbrush head inside the holder and for takingthe toothbrush head out of the holder, respectively, is a gentlepressure on the shaft in order to press it into its position and agentle pull of the shaft in order to take it out.

According to a particular embodiment of the holder according to theinvention, the first supporting surfaces of the recess follow theoutline of the disc outside the area of the shaft, and furthermore thefirst supporting surfaces can form a continuous partially circularsurface, said continuous partially circular surface fittingapproximately to the toothbrush head of an electric toothbrush. Herebyit is achieved that the toothbrush head does not fall out by itself, andat the same time it can easily be placed in the recess and be taken outagain with one hand. Furthermore, the embodiment can be manufactured ina simple way.

In addition, the holder according to the invention can be peculiar inthat the second supporting surfaces are adapted to abut the rear side ofthe disc via the shaft, and furthermore they can specifically have ashape, which is complementary to at least parts of the rear side of theshaft. Hereby, a particularly advantageous embodiment is obtained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is explained in detail below with reference to thedrawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a front view of a part of an embodiment for a holder,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the holder shown in FIG. 1 along the lineI-I, and

FIG. 3 is the same view including a toothbrush head accommodated herein.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-3 show a holder 1 with recesses 7, each of said recesses beingadapted to accommodate a detachable toothbrush head for an electrictoothbrush. Such a toothbrush head is indicated by the general referencenumber 2 in FIG. 3. The toothbrush head 2 has a movable disc or discpart 3 supported by a shaft 4. The toothbrush head is provided withbristles 5 protruding from the disc or disc part 3 substantiallyparallel to a first axis 6. The holder 1 is adapted so that thetoothbrush head 2 can be placed herein without the bristles getting intocontact with the holder 1. In the embodiment shown, the first axis 6,which is perpendicular to the disc or disc part, is identical to thesecond axis 12 in the holder, when the toothbrush head is placed herein.

The recess 7 has a supporting surface 8 to support the rim of the discor the disc part 3 in the radial direction perpendicularly to saidsecond axis 12. In the shown embodiment of the invention, the supportingsurface 8 has a continuous partially circular surface approximatelyfollowing the outline of the disc or disc part 3 outside the area of theshaft 4.

In the embodiment shown said supporting surface 8 passes into a shouldersurface 9 seen in the direction into the recess 7, said shoulder surface9 also forming a continuous partially circular surface, which followsthe outline of the disc or the disc part outside the area of the shaft4. The shoulder surface 9 is connected to a plane contact face 10 via apartially circular face 11 extending parallel to said axis 12. Theshoulder surface 9 and the contact face 10 support the toothbrush head 2at the rim of the disc or the disc part 3 in the axial directionparallel to said axis 12, the shoulder surface 9 providing directsupport on the rim of the disc or the disc part, while the contact face10 provides indirect support via the shaft 4.

In the above embodiment, the face 11 has the shape of a part of acylinder with a length corresponding to the distance between the rim ofthe disc or the disc part 3 and the rear of the shaft 4. Thereby, theplane of the contact face 10 becomes circular, and can thus bemanufactured easily. In an additional embodiment the latter faces 10, 11can be shaped complementary to the form of the shaft 4 in the endsupporting the disc or the disc part 3. The toothbrush head 2, however,is secured sufficiently in the holder 1 simply by means of contact tothe supporting surface 8 and the face 9 or 10.

The thickness of the holder 1 corresponds to the thickness of thetoothbrush head 2 plus an appropriate plate thickness of the rear sideof the holder 1 behind the recesses 7.

The invention is not limited to the above embodiment, which can beamended in many ways without diverging from the idea behind theinvention. Thus, the shape of the recesses can be more rounded thusfitting more complementary to the shape of the toothbrush head. Therecesses can have grooves/slits so that additional air gets to the backside of the toothbrush head.

The holder 1 can be installed directly on the wall, for instance bymeans of screw holes or adhesive cushions or indirectly on a supportingintermediate plate, which is fixed to the wall first. Hereby, the holder1 can be installed detachably onto the intermediate plate, so that itcan be installed and de-installed easily upon cleaning. Furthermore theholder 1 can be made from metal, plastic or wood. Additionally, theholder 1 can be adapted with a cover plate against dust and a drippingplate below it for catching water from the toothbrush head 2.

1. Holder (1) for securing detachable toothbrush heads (2) for electrictoothbrushes, said toothbrush head (2) having a movable disc or discpart (3) supported by a shaft (4), and which is provided with bristles(5) protruding substantially parallel to a first axis (6), said firstaxis extending substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the disc ordisc part (3), characterised by the holder (1) being provided with aplurality of recesses (7), each of said recesses being adapted toaccommodate at least the end of the toothbrush head supporting the discor the disc part (3) with bristles (5), each recess having firstsupporting surfaces (8) to support the rim of the disc or disc part (3)in the radial direction perpendicularly to said first axis (6), andsecond supporting surfaces (9) for supporting the rear side of the discor the disc part (3) in the axial direction parallel to said first axis(6).
 2. Holder (1) according to claim 1, characterised by the firstsupporting surfaces (8) of the recess (7) following the outline of thedisc outside the area of the shaft.
 3. Holder (1) according to claim 2,characterised by the first supporting surfaces (8) of the recess (7)forming a continuous partially circular surface (10).
 4. Holder (1)according to claim 3, characterised by the second supporting surfaces(9) of the recess being adapted to abut the rear side of the disc (3)via the shaft (4).
 5. Holder (1) according to claim 4, characterised bythe second supporting surfaces (9) of the recess having a shape which iscomplementary to at least parts of the rear side of the shaft (4).